Two Cebu-based business executives linked to a $44 million publishing scam in the United States involving elderly writers have a 99.99 percent chance of returning to the Philippines, according to their legal counsel, Oliver Baclay Jr., on Friday, April 11, .
Baclay said that the executives Mike Sordilla and Bryan Tarosa have no involvement in the alleged scam d
Sordilla serves as the CEO of Innocentrix and is also the founder of Hiyas Pilipinas, while Tarosa holds the position of vice president at Innocentrix, a business process outsourcing company based in Cebu.
Both executives and California resident Gemma Traya Austin are facing charges in the U.S. for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering, in connection with a book publishing scam that lasted for seven years.
Baclay asserts that Sordilla and Tarosa bear no criminal responsibility, and argues that the U.S. charges arose from the unauthorized actions of two rogue sales agents who exploited the company’s systems during the peak of the pandemic’s work-from-home period.
